a:  I  1466 

.577 


-M^W-NX 


HONDURAS  AND  GUATEMALA, 


jTb  the  Editors  of  the  National  Intelligencer: 

IN  the  Intelligencer  of  the  16th  inst.,  you  have  allowed  "a  retired 
citizen,"  under  the  pretence  of  "  vindicating  the  cause  of  truth,"  to  ma 
lign  a  respectable  Association  of  American  citizens,  and  to  falsify  and 
misrepresent  the  "  facts  of  history,"  in  all  that  concerns  the.  existing 
relations  between  the  States  of  Honduras  and  Guatemala  in  Central 
America.  The  Association  thus  vilified  have  a  right  to  ask,  and  the 
cause  of  truth  requires,  at  your  hands,  a  vindication  as  ample  as  the 
outrage  of  which  you  have  been  made  the  medium  is  gross  and  unjus 
tifiable. 

The  assassin  strikes  in  the  dark,  and  the  slanderer  and  falsifier  usually 
chooses  an  anonymous  disguise  under  which  to  make  his  assaults,  and 
evade  the  responsibility  which  attaches  to  his  conduct.  This  is  precise 
ly  the  course  pursued  by  your  correspondent,  "  the  retired  citizen." 
It  needs  no  gift  of  divination  to  discover  his  animus  or  penetrate 
his  motives,  both  of  which  are  as  base  as  his  anonymous  exhibition  of 
them  is  cowardly. 

So  far  as  he  assumes  to  state  the  origin  of  the  present  differences 
between  Honduras  and  Guatemala,  and  to  indicate  the  political  position 
and  tendencies  of  these  States  respectively,  he  is  guilty  not  only  of 
gross  misrepresentation  but  of  deliberate  falsehood. 

Whatever  may  be  the  conflict  of  claims  between  these  two  States, 
in  respect  of  boundaries,  that  diversity  has  had  little  or  no  connection 
with  the  present  differences,  which  are  directly  due  to  the  invasion  of 
the  acknowledged  and  indisputable  territories  of  Honduras  by  armed 
forces  from  Guatemala.  This  your  "retired"  correspondent  does  not 
pretend  to  deny  ;  but  he  seeks  to  justify  the  act,  by  the  assertion  that 
"  certain  lawless  marauders,  recruited  and  armed  in  Honduras,  made 
hostile  inroads  into  Guatemala,"  and  that  when  repulsed  they  "  invari 
ably  sought  and  found  shelter  in  Honduras." 


Now  all  this  is  mere  assertion,  unsustained  by  proof,  and  withal,  false 
in  fact.  That  citizens  of  Guatemala,  driven  out  by  the  bloody  and 
unsparing  hand  of  the  Indian  Dictator  of  that  wretched  State,  have 
sought  refuge  in  Honduras,  as  well  as  in  the  States  of  Chiapas  and  San 
Salvador,  is  undoubtedly  true.  Such  has  been  the  political  condition  of 
Central  America,  as  in  fact  of  all  Spanish  America,  for  many  years,  that 
there  is  hardly  a  person  of  any  distinction,  political  or  social,  who  has  not 
been  oftener  than  once  a  refugee.  And  because  a  man  is  a  refugee  in 
those  countries,  it  no  ways  follows  that  he  is  a  criminal.  It  may  be 
true  that  some  of  the  political  refugees  of  Guatemala,  in  Honduras, 
abused  the  asylum  granted  them,  and  sought  to  incite  opposition  in 
the  former  State  against  the  parties  in  power  who  expelled  them.  But 
whoever  asserts  that  the  Government  of  Honduras  was  in  any  way  a 
party  to  such  efforts,  asserts  an  untruth,  and  slanders  the  really  liberal 
and  high-minded  men  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  that  State.  They  have 
not  only  discountenanced  all  such  efforts,  but  have  actively  interfered 
to  prevent  them.  If  their  interference  has  not  always  been  effective,  it 
is  not  surprising,  considering  the  difficulties  of  communication  and  the 
wild  nature  of  the  country,  which  offers  ample  opportunities  of  con 
cealment  for  the  evil- disposed.  Even  the  United  States,  with  all  its 
resources,  has  not  always  been  able  to  prevent  bodies  of  men  from 
leaving  its  territories  with  hostile  intent  on  its  neighbors. 

With  a  full  and  clear  knowledge  of  these  facts,  I  assert,  and  shall 
prove,  that  Honduras  actively  interfered  to  prevent  any  disturbance  of 
Guatemala  by  persons  within  its  borders ;  and  that  the  invasion  by 
Guatemala  was  a  wanton  act  of  aggression,  attended  by  the  most  hor 
rible  outrages,  not  upon  political  refugees,  but  on  the  quiet  and  unof 
fending  citizens  of  Honduras,  old  men,  women,  and  children,  entirely 
unconnected  with  political  affairs. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  1852,  the  town  of  Zacapa,  in  Guatemala,  was 
assaulted  by  a  small  body  of  armed  men.  By  some,  they  were  supposed 
to  be  from  San  Salvador;  by  others,  from  Honduras;  others  still 
supposed  them  to  be — as  they  probably  were — one  of  the  systematic 
bands  of  robbers  which,  in  Guatemala  alone,  of  all  the  States  of  Cen 
tral  America,  infest  the  public  roads,  and,  as  in  Mexico,  make  a  trade 
of  robbery.  As  soon  as  the  information  of  this  act  reached  Gracias,  the 
frontier  department  of  Honduras,  the  Commandant  of  that  department 
•despatched  the  following  letter  to  the  G  vernment  at  Comayagua : — 

SANTA  ROSA,  July  15th,  1852. 
5*o  the  Minister  of  War  : 

SIR  :  I  have  received  information  of  the  movement  of  insurrectionists  of  Guate 
mala  on  the  frontier,  near  Copan,  and  have,  in  consequence,  proceeded  to  raise  an 


3      / 

additional  force  of  50  men,  so  as  to  be  in  readiness,  the  instant  I  shall  receive  au 
thority  from  the  Government,  to  proceed  to  put  them  in  check.  I  have  also  sent 
Gen.  Toro  with  a  detachment  to  watch  the  reported  proceedings  near  Playon. 
Although  I  have  no  direct  orders  for  the  contingency,  I  cannot  permit  the  towns 
of  the  frontier  to  suffer  in  consequence  of  the  acts  of  these  lawless  men ;  and  in 
case  I  learn  of  the  appearance  of  any  of  the  insurrectionists,  (facciosos,)  I  shall 
proceed  to  disarm  them,  and  to  reduce  them  if  they  resist. 

Signed :  JOSE  DE  ZELAYA. 

It  will  be  well  to  remember  the  name  of  this  officer,  for  he  is  pre 
cisely  the  man  who  was  subsequently  robbed  by  Gen.  Grenades  in  Santa 
Rosa,  and  for  whose  robbery  the  "  retired  citizen"  is  an  apologist. 

The  answer  of  the  Minister  of  War  to  Gen.  Zelaya  was  dated  "Co- 
mayagua,  July  27th,  1852,"  and  is  conceived  in  the  same  spirit  of  oppo 
sition  to  the  disturbers  of  the  public  peace.  It  says  :  "The  Government 
approves  of  the  steps  which  you  have  taken  to  repress  the  facciosos,  for  it 
can  never  permit  the  territory  of  Honduras  to  become  an  asylum  for  them 
wherein  to  carry  on  their  aggressions  against  other  States" 

It  then  proceeds  to  instruct  Gen.  Zelaya  to  arrest  such  persons  as  he 
may  find  in  arms  or  concerned  in  illegal  enterprises  upon  Guatemala, 
be  they  Guatemalans  or  citizens,  and  confine  them  for  trial.  It,  how 
ever,  warns  htm  not  to  allow  his  zeal  "  to  carry  him  beyond  the  boun 
dary,  in  order  to  avoid  all  ground  of  complaint  on  the  part  of  Guate 
mala." 

In  consequence,  Gen.  Zelaya  proceeded  to  the  frontier,  and  captured 
all  persons  known  or  suspected  to  be  concerned  in  disturbing  the  peace 
of  Guatemala,  at  the  same  time  confiscating  whatever  arms  and  muni 
tions  of  war  the  facciosos  had  collected.  Another  officer,  Col.  Pineda, 
was  equally  active.  These  measures  were  commended  in  the  official 
paper  of  Guatemala  of  Sept.  11,  1852,  l(  as  evidences  that  the  Govern 
ment  of  Honduras  was  animated  by  the  best  of  feelings,  and  had  acted 
with  justice  and  rectitude" 

The  exertions  of  the  authorities  of  Honduras  were  continued  until 
all  symptoms  of  disorder  were  repressed,  when  the  extraordinary 
forces,  except  some  small  parties  of  observation,  were  dismissed.  It 
was  then  that  disturbances  broke  out  in  the  town  of  Gualan,  in  Guate 
mala.  They  were  precisely  of  the  kind  which  occur  monthly,  in 
one  part  or  another  of  that  anarchical  dictatorship,  and  it  was  never 
pretended  that  they  originated  in  Honduras.  But,  under  the  pretence 
of  pursuing  the  disaffected,  Solares,  the  Commandant  of  Chiquimula 
in  Guatemala,  at  the  head  of  500  men,  not  only  passed  the  boundary  of 
Honduras,  but  penetrated  to  the  town  of  Copan.  This  invasion  took 
place  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  less  than  a  month  after  the  Govern 
ment  of  Guatemala  had  officially  returned  its  thanks  to  that  of  Hondu- 


ras  for  its  "  prompt  and  efficacious  suppression  of  the  facciosos" 
Had  the  invasion  by  Solares,  indefensible  on  any  ground,  been  limited 
solely  to  passing  the  borders,  it  is  not  likely  the  act  would  have  led  to 
difficulties. 

But  his  path  was  marked  by  rapine  and  slaughter.  Haciendas  were 
robbed,  women  violated,  and  a  number  of  inoffending  citizens  wantonly 
shot.  The  little  corps  of  observation  at  Copan  was  attacked  and 
driven  out.  In  short,  language  is  inadequate  to  characterize  in  deserved 
terms  the  atrocities  committed  by  the  invaders.  No  band  of  savages 
could  have  behaved  with  greater  cruelty  and  barbarity. 

It  will  not  do  for  any  apologist  for  Guatemala  to  deny  these  state 
ments  ;  it  is  a  task  which  the  Government  of  that  so-called  Republic 
has  never  undertaken;  for  the  proof,  horrible  and  disgusting  as  are  its 
details,  is  at  hand ! 

Of  course  this  violence  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  and  indignation 
throughout  Honduras,  and  roused  the  deepest  excitement.  The 
Government  addressed  an  earnest  and  firm  note  to  that  of  Guatemala, 
recounting  the  facts,  and  asking  that  the  invasion  be  disavowed,  the 
officer  concerned  in  it  reprimanded,  and  the  damages  repaired.  This 
letter  was  written  January  2d,  1853.  Meantime,  reports  reaching  the 
capitol  of  other  meditated  violations  of  the  territory  of  the  State,  Gen. 
Cabanas,  the  President,  hastened  to  the  frontier,  with  a  small  body  of 
men ;  and  an  extraordinary  session  of  the  Congress  of  the  State  was 
convened  to  meet  at  Intibucat,  near  Gracias.  The  sole  response  to  the 
complaints  of  Honduras  was  a  curt  and  offensive  note  from  the  Govern 
ment  of  Guatemala,  charging  the  authorities  of  Gracias,  who  had  so 
effectively  put  down  the  facciosos,  with  a  privity  to  their  designs,  and 
concurrence  in  them  !  This  unfounded  charge  was  indignantly  repelled, 
and  satisfaction  again  demanded  by  Honduras. 

The  correspondence  on  both  sides  now  became  excited,  and  Carrera, 
Dictator  of  Guatemala,  also  raised  troops,  and  stationed  himself  near 
the  frontier.  The  Legislature  of  Honduras  met  in  April.  Its  members 
were  greatly  irritated  by  the  conduct  of  Guatemala,  and  it  required  all 
the  moderation  and  influence  of  Gen.  Cabafias  to  prevent  an  open 
declaration  of  war. 

This  state  of  things  continued  until,  after  some  hesitation  on  the  part 
of  Guatemala,  the  preliminaries  to  an  understanding  were  made  by  the 
appointment  of  Commissioners  on  both  sides,  who  met  in  Esquipulas, 
and  on  the  19th  of  April,  signed  a  Convention.  This  Convention  pro 
vided, 

1.  That  Guatemala  should  indemnify  the  sufferers  by  the  invasion  at  Copan  and 
Gasapa. 


2.  That  Guatemala  should  liberate  all  the  citizens  of  Honduras  which  it  had 
carried  off  from  the  above-named  places. 

3.  Each  party  should  hereafter  respect  the  territory  of  the  other,  and  that  under 
all  circumstances,  all  difficulties  should  be  regulated  by  friendly  means. 

4.  That  to  place  the  relations   of  the  two  States  on  the  best  footing,  the 
parties  should,  as  soon  as  possible,  proceed  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  friendship, 
commerce,  and  boundaries. 

5.  Honduras  should  concentrate  all  refugees  from  Guatemala,  until  the  terms  on 
which  they  should  be  permitted  to  return  to  their  homes  should  be  fixed  by  treaty. 

6.  The  Convention  to  be  ratified  within  six  days. 

Now  mark  the  utter  falsehood  and  dishonesty  of  your "  retired 
citizen!"  This  treaty  was  ratified  immediately  (on  the  23d)  by  the 
Government  of  Honduras,  while  that  of  Guatemala  refused  its  ratifica 
tion  !  Your  disingenuous  correspondent  would  make  it  appear  that 
the  failure  of  the  Convention  was  due  to  the  conduct  of  Honduras ! 
And  yet  he  has  the  audacity  to  set  himself  up  as  a  "  vindicator  of 
truth,"  and  a  teacher  of  morals. 

By  this  action  of  Guatemala,  in  repudiating  the  work  of  its  own 
Commissioners,  the  misunderstanding  between  the  States  became  more 
complicated  and  asperous.  The  Legislature  adjourned  after  empowering 
the  Executive  to  declare  war,  in  case  all  efforts  to  obtain  reparation 
should  fail.  Finally,  Gen.  Cabaftas,  wearied  out  with  evasions  and 
delays,  in  the  month  of  July  advanced  upon  Guatemala.  The  policy 
of  this  extreme  step  may  be  doubted,  but  the  character  of  the  outrage 
on  Honduras,  and  the  bad  faith  of  Guatemala,  were  ample  justification 
for  the  reprisal.  He  soon  reduced  the  department  of  Chiquimula, 
occupying  successively  the  towns  of  Esquipulas,  Chiquimula,  and  Zacapa, 
but  everywhere  conducting  with  moderation,  permitting  not  the  slightest 
excesses  on  the  part  of  his  troops,  and  scrupulously  paying  for  whatever 
necessaries  he  required.  This  honorable  conduct,  it  may  be  remarked, 
is  characteristic  of  Gen.  Cabanas,  whose  hands  alone,  of  all  the  leaders 
which  Central  America  has  produced,  are  unstained  with  blood,  and 
upon  whose  whole  conduct,  during  more  than  twenty  years  of  public 
life,  there  does  not  rest  a  single  stain !  In  all  these  respects,  he  is  in 
decided  contrast  to  the  Indian  Carrera,  whom  a  handful  of  monarchists 
and  bigots  in  Guatemala  have  carried  into  power,  through  a  series  of 
murders  and  assassinations,  unparalleled  in  number  and  atrocity  by  any 
thing  this  continent,  and  all  the  years  of  anarchy  in  Spanish  America, 
have  ever  witnessed ! 

Your  anonymous  correspondent,  in  his  zeal  to  misrepresent  Honduras, 
cannot  announce  this  advance  of  Gen.  Cabanas  without  violating  truth. 
He  says :  <;  In  July,  Gen.  Cabanas,  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  malcon 
tents  and  renegades,  again  invaded  Guatemala."  The  attempt  is  here 


6 

made  to  convey  the  falsehood  that  the  invasion  of  Copan  by  Solares 
was  in  retaliation  for  a  previous  invasion  of  Guatemala  by  Gen. 
Cabaftas  !  In  this  wise,  your  "retired  citizen'*  vindicates  "the  truth  of 
history !" 

The  entrance  into  Chiquimula  was  undertaken  by  Gen.  Cabana  with 
a  very  inadequate  force ;  and  upon  the  advance  of  large  reinforcements 
from  Guatemala,  and  in  consequence  of  disaffection  among  his  own 
troops,  he  was  obliged,  after  some  skirmishing,  to  fall  back  upon  Gra- 
cias,  which  he  did,  slowly,  and  without  precipitation.  He  was  followed 
by  the  forces  of  Guatemala  to  Santa  Rosa,  when  he  retired  to  San 
Jose,  where  he  made  a  final  stand.  The  Guatemalan  force,  under 
a  Gen.  Garcia  Grenades,  entered  Santa  Rosa  on  the  19th  of  July.  They 
found  the  town  entirely  deserted,  for  the  inhabitants  knew  too  well  the 
brutal  character  of  the  invaders  of  Copan,  to  trust  their  own  lives,  or 
the  honor  of  their  wives  and  daughters,  in  their  power.  The  sequel 
proved  the  wisdom  of  their  conduct ;  for  no  sooner  had  the  Guatemalan 
troops  entered  the  town,  than  they  commenced  an  indiscriminate  pillage, 
in  which  officers  and  men  emulated  each  other  in  deeds  of  robbery  and 
wanton  destruction. 

It  so  happens  that  I  was  at  Santa  Rosa,  both  before  and  after  the  occu 
pation  by  the  troops  of  Guatemala,  and  am  perfectly  well  informed  of 
all  that  took  place.  With  this  knowledge,  I  pronounce  the  entire  state 
ment  of  your  anonymous  correspondent,  in  relation  to  that  event,  as 
wholly  and  maliciously  false.  It  is  utterly  impossible  that  any  assurance 
of  "  protection  "  from  the  Guatemalan  General  could  have  reached  the 
town  without  my  knowledge.  But  even  if  it  had,  there  is  not  a  man  in 
Central  America  who  would  have  trusted  to  it.  The  people  there  know 
too  well  how  much  faith  to  place  in  the  savage  hordes  of  Carrera,  and 
his  equally  unscrupulous  subordinates  ! 

The  notorious,  wholesale  sack  of  Santa  Rosa,  is  disposed  of  by  your 
correspondent  as  "  some  trifling  disorders  "  committed  by  the  soldiers, 
in  consequence  of  finding  the  town  "  without  inhabitants  and  provi 
sions  !"  And  the  general  robbery  of  all  property  which  could  be  carried 
off,  and  the  wanton  destruction  of  that  which  it  was  not  possible  to 
remove,  is  resolved  by  the  same  "  vindicator  of  truth"  into  the  seizure 
of  the  goods  of  "  a  well-known  instigator  of  the  invasion !" 

These  goods  were  the  property  of  Gen.  Jose  de  Zelaya,  whom  we 
have  already  had  occasion  to  notice  for  his  prompt  and  efficacious  action 
in  preventing  the  refugees  and  facciosos  of  Guatemala  from  making  the 
territories  of  Honduras  the  theatre  of  their  operations  upon  their  own 
State  !  These  goods,  valued  at  upwards  of  $40,000,  were  the  property 
of  the  same  Gen.  Zelaya  who  had  been  lauded  by  name,  but  a  short 


time  previously,  by  the  Government  of  Guatemala,  for  his  "  honorable 
rectitude  "  in  preserving  the  neutrality  of  Honduras,  and  suppressing 
disorders  on  the  frontiers ! 

But  the  "  seizures,"  as  your  correspondent  amiably  characterizes  the 
Guatemalan  robberies,  were  not  confined  to  the  property  of  Gen.  Zelaya. 
There  was  not  a  store,  shop,  or  dwelling  in  the  whole  town  of  Santa  Rosa, 
which  escaped  plunder.  As  I  have  said,  all  property  which  could  not 
be  carried  off,  was  destroyed.  The  mirrors  and  lamps  in  the  houses 
were  broken ;  fires  were  made  of  the  sofas,  beds,  and  other  furniture  ; 
and  the  tobacco,  the  principal  product  of  the  vicinity,  was  burnt  in  the 
streets  !  Even  the  churches  did  not  escape,  but  were  equally  violated, 
and  their  more  valuable  ornaments  carried  off.  Cattle  were  slaughtered 
in  the  salas  of  the  best  houses,  and  their  entrails  left  to  putrefy  there, 
and  in  the  courts.  The  records  of  the  municipality  were  destroyed, 
and  the  public  buildings  defaced.  In  short,  no  act  of  destruction  which 
an  unrestrained  and  savage  soldiery  could  devise,  was  omitted,  For 
three  days  this  barbarous  saturnalia  was  continued,  when  the  invaders, 
fearing  the  general  uprising  and  summary  revenge  of  the  people  of  the 
department,  retreated  precipitately  across  the  frontier,  leaving  their  path 
marked  with  fire  and  blood.  Such  were  the  "trifling  disorders"  of 
your  veracious  correspondent ! 

But  the  robberies  of  the  Guatemalan  General  were  not  limited  to  the 
property  of  the  natives.  The  property  of  foreigners  met  no  greater 
respect.  A  valuable  assortment  of  silks  and  merinoes,  belonging  to  a 
French  merchant  residing  in  the  place,  was  appropriated  by  the  chiv 
alrous  General  Grenados,  and  his  principal  officers.  The  French  flag, 
which  sheltered  them,  was  torn  down,  and  trampled  under  foot.  And 
in  the  subsequent  correspondence  which  took  place  between  the  French 
Consul-General  and  the  Government  of  Guatemala  on  the  subject,  the 
former  very  justly  characterized  the  whole  conduct  of  Grenados  and 
his  soldiers  as  that  of  "  ladrones,  disgraceful  to  the  nineteenth  century !" 

I  now  come  to  the  affair  of  Omoa.  The  fort  of  Omoa  surrendered 
to  Colonel  Zavala,  in  command  of  a  Guatemalan  force,  in  deference  to 
the  wishes  of  the  principal  merchants  of  the  place,  who  sought  to  avert 
a  conflict,  on  the  24th  of  August,  1853.  The  first  article  of  the  capi 
tulation  is  as  follows : 

Art,  1.  The  commander  of  the  fort,  considering  the  sinall  force  at  his  command, 
the  state  of  the  fort,  and  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  municipality  and  foreign 
agents,  agrees  to  evacuate  the  fort  at  one  o'clock  this  day,  with  the  garrison,  arms, 
and  park  of  artillery,  ("guarnacion  y  tren  de  fusilerea  parque.")  But  in  order 
that  no  labor  may  be  uselessly  expended  in  taking  out  things  which  will  require 
to  be  rei'ntroduced  hereafter,  said  arms,  &c.,  ("  tren  de  fusilerea"  &c.,)  may  remain 
as  a  deposit  in  the  hands  of  the  TJ.  S.  Consul. 


8 

Art.  2  contained  a  stipulation  that,  in  consideration  of  this  step,  the 
Guatemalan  commander  should  reembark  his  troops  and  evacuate  the 
place  "  within  three  days." 

This  convention  or  capitulation  was  accepted  by  Capt.  Medina,  com 
mander  of  the  fort,  on  the  following  express  condition  appended  to  the 
document,  viz. : 

"  With  the  express  condition  that  the  Port  shall  be  evacuated  by  the 
troops  of  Guatemala  within  four  days,  and  that  they  shall  not  touch  any 
piece  of  artillery  nor  any  other  article  left  in  the  forty 

Yet,  in  violation  of  these  stipulations,  the  Guatemalans  commenced 
carrying  off  the  armament  of  the  fort,  and  had  embarked  five  heavy 
brass  guns  and  two  mortars,  when  further  proceedings  were  stopped  by 
the  earnest  remonstrance  of  the  American  Consul,  iti  whose  care  the 
armament  had  been  placed  by  the  capitulation. 

Yet  your  mendacious  correspondent  says  that  the  Guatemalans  vio 
lated  no  faith  at  Omoa,  and  that  the  charge  that  they  did  so  "is  as 
malicious  as  it  is  groundless  !"  Most  rare  "  vindicator  of  the  truth  of 
history !" 

In  order  to  completely  stultify  himself,  it  only  remains  for  your  cor 
respondent  to  turn  apologist  for  British  aggressions  in  Central  America. 
This  is  an  appropriate  and  fitting  work  for  the  eulogist  of  the  assassin 
Carrera,  and  the  vilifier  of  the  liberal  and  republican  State  of  Honduras  ! 
He  is  welcome  to  all  the  honors  he  can  earn  in  such  a  congenial  under 
taking.  But  he  cannot  deny  that  the  vessels  engaged  in  the  attack  on 
Omoa,  in  part  at  least,  were  under  the  British  flag,  and  furnished  from 
the  establishment  of  Belize.  The  official  evidence  exists  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  State.  Nor  can  he  deny  that  recently  a  large  quantity  of  in 
cendiary  documents  from  Guatemala,  addressed  for  distribution  to  the 
British  Consul  in  Honduras,  were  intercepted  by  the  Government  of  the 
latter  State.  Your  correspondent's  blunders  in  dates,  and  his  statements 
as  concerns  the  seizure  of  Roatan,  etc.,  may  be  passed  over  as  simple 
specimens  of  irredeemable  ignorance,  not  remarkably  becoming  in  a 
"  vindicator  of  the  truth  of  history." 

It  is  also  appropriate  in  your  correspondent  to  insult  and  belie  the 
Liberal  party  of  Central  America,  while  he  exalts  the  aristocratic  oli 
garchy  to  which  they  are  opposed.  In  this  task  he  will  find  himself  in 
entire  opposition  to  every  observer  of  repute  who  has  written  on  the 
political  condition  of  Central  America,  English  or  American. 

Mr.  Crowe,  an  English  author,  for  many  years  a  resident  in  the  coun 
try,  has  drawn  the  characters  of  the  opposing  parties  with  an  impartial 
hand.  He  says : 


9 

"The  leaders  of  the  Liberal  party  are  composed  of  the  elite  of  the  Universities, 
many  merchants  and  landed  proprietors,  supported  by  a  numerous  body,  made  up 
of  the  more  intelligent  artisans  and  laborers.  *  *  *  What  they  overthrew  and 
accomplished  for  the  State  is  honorable  alike  to  their  talents  and  sentiments;  and 
though  the  limits  of  a  sketch  will  scarcely  admit  of  a  due  appreciation  of  it,  a 
cursory  view  of  their  achievements  will  probably  excite  more  wonder,  and  cer 
tainly  secure  for  them  higher  praise,  than  the  victories  of  Alvarado. " 

Of  the  Servile  party,  always  the  inexorable  opponents  of  the  Liberals, 
and  now  dominant  in  Guatemala  and  Costa  Rica,  he  draws  the  following 
picture : 

"  The  Serviles  included  the  two  extremes  of  society,  linked  together  by  their 
blind  guides,  the  priests.  Amongst  them  there  were  some  few  men  of  ability, 
although  in  this  respect  they  were  far  inferior  to  the  Liberals.  *  *  *  In 
general,  if  not  universally,  it  will  be  found  easy  to  trace  to  their  intrigues  the  in 
ternal  disorders  of  the  social  and  political  body  in  each  of  the  States;  and  not  a 
few  of  the  past  civil  wars  and  existing  animosities  between  the  States  are  attri 
butable  to  their  influence,  or  to  the  personal  ambition  and  seditious  conduct  of 
individuals  in  it." — Crowed  Central  America,  pp.  124,  126. 

It  was  this  Servile  party  which  opposed  the  organization  of  the  Republic 
of  Central  America,  and  soughr  to  merge  the  country  in  the  empire  of 
Iturbide.  Failing  in  this,  they  traitorously  invited  a  force  from  Mexico, 
which,  notwithstanding  their  armed  concurrence,  was  defeated  and 
destroyed  by  the  Liberals.  The  same  spirit  now  animates  them,  and  the 
Government  of  Guatemala  is  seeking  a  similar  union  with  the  projected 
empire  of  Santa  Anna.  Its  official  paper  for  the  last  year  has  teemed 
with  articles  having  this  tendency,  and  denouncing  and  misrepresenting 
the  United  States,  its  institutions  and  policy.  All  the  ribald  abuse  of 
the  journals  of  Spain,  Cuba,  and  Mexico  is  eagerly  copied  into  its  col 
umns,  and  into  those  of  its  co-laborer,  the  official  "  Gazette  of  Costa 
Rica."  Both  are  vehement  in  their  advocacy  of  a  union  against  the 
United  States,  whose  policy  is  characterized  as  follows  in  an  article 
published  in  the  official  paper  of  Guatemala,  July  29,  1853  : 

"There  is  nevertheless  one  truth  which  the  least  informed  cannot  fail  to  recog 
nize,  because  it  is  eYident  from  all  the  events  in  the  history  of  this  continent,  viz.^ 
that  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  which  grows,  multiplies,  and  strengthens  daily  in  the 
North  of  America,  is  animated  by  a  spirit  of  expansion  and  aggrandizement  which 
tramples  under  foot  all  rules  of  international  right.  This  spirit  of  aggression 
places  in  constant  danger  the  Spanish  race,  which,  in  the  midst  of  lamentable  dis 
sensions,  is  debilitated  and  consumed.  Hence  results  the  imperious  necessity  of 
the  nations  of  this  stock  abandoning  the  chimeras  which  have  deluded  them  and 
seeking,  each  one  by  itself  and  all  together,  to  place  a  barrier  against  the  unre 
strained  ambition  which  persecutes  them." 

Since  the  publication  of  the  above,  a  more  emphatic  language  has 


10 

been  adopted.     In  an  article  abusive  of  the  present  Attorney-General  of 
the  United  States,  the  same  paper  prints  the  following  paragraphs: 

"  Looking  at  the  Inaugural  Address  of  President  Pierce,  and  to  the  remarks  of 
Mr.  Cushing,  we  deduce  the  dominant  policy  of  the  American  Government  to  be 
one  of  usurpation,  which  should  alarm  not  only  the  nations  which  surround  the 
United  States,  but  generally  all  civilized  countries,  who  cannot  see  with  indiffer 
ence  this  modern  Rome  advance  in  a  career  of  aggression  and  rapine,"  etc.,  etc.» 
ad  nauseam. 

And  still  later,  that  is  to  say,  in  January  last,  the  same  paper,  after 
a  review  of  the  events  of  the  year,  prognosticates  a  contest  between  the 
Americans  and  the  Spanish  stocks,  "in  which,"  it  heroically  adds, 
"  Guatemala  will  not  be  found  backward  in  defence  of  its  race  and  reli 
gion" — in  other  words,  it  will  fight  the  United  States :  a  contingency 
from  which  we  may  well  recoil  in  dismay  !* 

But  the  tendencies  of  the  Governments  of  both  Guatemala  and  Costa 
Rica  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
latter  is  a  French  refugee,  lately  Secretary  to  the  notorious  Flores  in  his 
attempts  to  monarchize  the  republics  of  South  America  ;  and  that  the 
most  influential  member  of  the  Government  of  Guatemala  is  a  Sefior 
Pavon,  former  Private  Secretary  to  the  late  equally  notorious  British 
Consul- General,  Chatfield !  Par  nobile  fratrum  ! 

A  cause  may  generally  be  judged  by  its  leaders.  Carrera,  the  Dic 
tator  of  Guatemala,  and  Guardiola,  expelled  some  years  ago  from  Hon 
duras  for  his  crimes,  are  at  the  head  of  the  war  on  Honduras.  Who 
are  these  men  ?  What  is  their  history  and  character  ?  These  questions 
are  amply  answered  by  the  following  passages  from  the  work  of  Mr. 
Dunlap  on  Central  America.  Mr.  Dunlap,  it  may  be  observed,  like 
Mr.  Crowe,  is  an  English  author. 

"Rafael  Carrera,  the  Commander-in-Chief  and  President  of  the  State  of  Guate 
mala,  is  a  dark-colored  and  extremely  ill-looking  mestizo.  He  was  originally 
servant  to  a  woman  of  no  very  respectable  character  in  Amatitlan,  and  afterwards 


*  "  Notable  events  are  no  doubt  destined  to  take  place  during  the  year  1854.  A  neighboring  nation  > 
(Mexico,)  one  of  the  most  important  of  this  continent,  throwing  resolutely  "aside  the  old  prestiges 
of  demagogical  ideas,  now  seeks,  with  faith  and  without  fear,  the  road  which  it  should  never 
have  lost.  Transcendental  movements  are  preparing  in  that  country  which  will  necessarily  effect 
great  changes  in  the  destiny  of  a  considerable  part  of  this  continent. 

"  Meantime  the  influx  of  Americans,  now  in  search  of  gold,  and  again  to  open  routes  between 
the  seas,  increases  every  day  ;  and  this  very  year  may  witness  a  general  and  decisive  shock 
between  the  two  rival  races,  qf  which  the  war  with  Mexico  and  the  invasion  of  Cuba  were  only 
the  precursors. 

"In  this  combat,  Guatemala  has  beforehand  designated  her  place.  Whenever  they  shall  defend 
the  Catholic  faith  ;  whenever  they  shall  fight  for  the  sentiment  of  race,  there  will  float  the  flag  of 
the  young  republic,  which  has  been  one  of  the  first  to  proclaim  the  principles  and  sentiments 
which  now  appear  to  be  recovering,  every  day  more  and  more,  their  empire  in  the  Spanish  Ajrje> 
rican  States.  "—Official  Gazette  of  Guatemala,  Jan.  6,  1854. 


11 

to  a  Spaniard,  from  whom  it  is  supposed  he  got  the  little  knowledge  and  breed 
ing  he  possessed  when  he  first  appeared  on  the  political  stage  of  Guatemala;  after 
wards,  he  was  employed  as  a  pig-driver ;  that  is,  in  purchasing  and  personally 
driving  pigs  from  the  villages  to  Guatemala  and  the  more  populous  towns. 

"The  Asiatic  cholera  having  appeared  in  April,  1837,  the  Indians  were  led  to 
believe  that  the  waters  had  been  poisoned  by  emissaries  sent  by  the  parties  then 
ruling  the  state  ;  and  being  also  excited  against  the  system  of  trial  by  jury,  they 
united,  to  the  number  of  some  thousands,  in  the  town  of  Santa  Rosa,  and  under 
the  command  of  Carrera,  who  had  been  one  of  the  most  active  in  deceiving  them, 
destroyed  a  party  of  dragoons  who  had  been  sent  out  to  disperse  them.  Carrera's 
faction  was  frequently  defeated,  and  a  vast  slaughter  made  of  the  Indians  who 
followed  him  at  Villa  Nueva,  by  the  government  troops  under  the  command  of 
Gen.  Salazar,  on  the  llth  Sept.  1838  ;  but  they  have  always  reunited  in  greater 
force ;  and  on  the  13th  of  April,  1839,  Carrera  took  Guatemala  at  the  head  of  5000 
Indians;  since  which  time  he  has  retained  all  the  real  power  in  his  hands.  For 
some  time  he  acted  nominally  under  Mariano  Rivera  Paz,  President  of  the  State, 
but  he  has  since  dissolved  the  shadow  of  a  representative  assembly  which  existed  ; 
and  having,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1840,  defeated  Gen.  Morazan,  (the  legal  Presi 
dent  of  the  republic,)  by  means  of  an  immense  superiority  of  force,  and  driven 
him  out  of  Guatemala,  after  he  had  occupied  it  a  day,  he  has  since  remained  sole 
and  supreme  dictator  of  the  State.  * 

By  extortions  and  confiscations,  he  has  amassed  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  in  cash,  lands,  and  houses ;  and  it  is  consequently  his  interest  to  maintain 
a  settled  government  and  give  protection  to  property;  but  in  his  private  life  he  is 
more  indecently  immoral  than  could  be  conceived  or  understood  by  most  English 
readers." 

In  respect  to  Guardiola,  now  next  in  command  to  Carrera,  the  same 
author  observes : 

"  Guardiola  is  a  dark-colored  mestizo,  stout-built,  and  rather  corpulent,  his  face 
expressing  his  fiendish  temper;  but  well  liked  by  the  soldiers,  whom  he  indulges 
in  every  way.  To  his  habits  of  intoxication  may  be  added  every  species  of  vice 
which  can  be  named  among  the  vicious  inhabitants  of  Central  America  ;  and  fre 
quently,  in  his  drunken  fits,  he  orders  people  to  be  shot  who  have  in  nothing 
offended  him,  while  at  all  times  the  moat  trifling  expression,  incautiously  uttered, 
is  sufficient  to  cause  the  babbler  to  be  shot  without  mercy.  In  private  life  he  is  as 
brutal  as  can  well  be  imagined.  In  all  the  towns  through  which  he  passes,  he 
makes  a  habit  of  calling  in  the  best  looking  women  he  can  see,  and,  after  subject 
ing  them  to  infamous  treatment,  he  drives  them  forth  with  the  most  insulting 
epithets ;  yet  he  is  certainly  the  best  and  most  successful  general  of  any  now  exist 
ing,  and,  probably,  of  any  who  have  appeared  in  Central  America.  Like  Marius, 
the  Roman  leader,  his  brutal  manners  serve  to  terrify  the  enemy;  hence,  while  the 
arrival  of  Cabanas  and  most  of  the  other  leaders  ia  looked  upon  without  fear  by 
the  people  of  the  contending  States,  the  bare  mention  of  the  name  of  Guardiola 
is  sufficient  to  make  the  inhabitants  fly  to  the  woods,  leaving  every  thing  behind 
them." 

In  glorious  contrast  to  these  men  stands  Gen.  Cabanas,  the  President 
of  Honduras.  As  I  have  already  said,  during  a  long  and  active  public 


12 

life,  he  has  never  been  guilty  of  an  act  which  may  not  challenge  the 
closest  scrutiny.  He  was  called  the  "  right  arm"  of  Gen.  Morazan,  the 
last  President  of  Central  America,  in  his  struggles  to  maintain  the  Re 
public,  and  may  dispute  with  him  the  honorable  title  of  the  ablest, 
purest,  and  most  unselfish  and  truly  patriotic  man  which  Central  Ame 
rica  has  ever  produced.  Mr.  Stephens  has  borne  emphatic  testimony 
to  his  elevation  of  character  and  adherence  to  principle,  and  both  Mr. 
Dunlap  and  Mr.  Crowe  refer  to  him  in  the  same  terms  of  praise,  and 
as  a  contrast,  in  all  respects,  to  the  Indian  Carrera,  and  the  mestizo 
Guardiola  ! 

I  come  now  to  the  disreputable  attack  of  your  anonymous  corre 
spondent  on  the  "  Honduras  Interoceanic  Railway  Company."  As  the 
venom  of  the  scorpion  lies  in  its  tail,  so  the  ill-concealed  malice  of  your 
correspondent  finds  expression  towards  the  close  of  his  article,  which 
seems  to  have  been  written  to  afford  him  an  opportunity  to  relieve 
himself  of  a  little  troublesome  personal  spite.  He  comes  to  his  point 
with  the  blunt  inquiry,  "  Who  are  the  projectors  of  the  Honduras 
Railway  Company  ?"  And  then,  lacking  manliness  to  make  any  direct 
charges  against  them,  adopts  the  sneaking  mode  of  propounding  a 
series  of  questions,  the  design  of  which  is  to  insinuate  what  he  dares 
not  aver. 

In  reply  to  your  anonymous  contributor's  first  question,  it  is  proper 
to  observe,  it  is  none  of  his  business,  who  are  the  projectors  and  bene 
ficiaries  of  this  Company.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  it  is  composed  of 
American  citizens  of  the  highest  standing,  some  of  whom  have  held 
eminent  and  responsible  positions  at  home  and  abroad.  Others  rank 
high  as  merchants  and  men  of  enterprise,  and  all  enjoy  a  well-earned 
reputation  in  society,  upon  which  no  anonymous  scribbler,  be  he 
"  retired  citizen"  or  paid  slanderer,  can  cast  a  blot.  From  their  earliest 
relations  with  Honduras,  springing  out  of  the  enterprise  in  which  they 
are  engaged,  their  efforts  have  been  directed  to  preserve  the  public  peace, 
and  to  establish  harmony  between  Honduras  and  the  other  States.  So 
far  as  their  advice  has  been  sought,  or  their  influence  exerted,  both 
have  been  rendered  in  behalf  of  tranq,  lllity.  If  they  have  not  been 
successful  in  their  efforts,  it  has  been  because  the  enemies  of  Honduras 
have  refused  all  advances  towards  conciliation  on  the  part  of  the  latter, 
and  because  they  are  animated  by  a  spirit  of  bitter  hostility  to  her 
well-known  liberal  and  American  tendencies. 

The  Honduras  Railroad  Company  are  engaged  in  a  laudable  and 
legitimate  enterprise,  under  a  charter  granted  by  the  Government 
of  Honduras,  on  principles  of  the  widest  liberality.  If  successful, 
they  will  throw  open  to  the  world  a  short  and  easy  route  between  the 


13 

seas,  with  unimpeachable  harbors,  and  Free  Ports  at  both  extremities, 
and  with  a  transit  free  to  the  citizens  and  products  of  all  nations.  In 
carrying  out  this  enterprise,  the  Company  have  not,  nor  do  they  intend 
to  stun  the  public  ear  with  exaggerated  statements,  nor  besiege  the 
Government  and  Congress  with  schemes  to  further  selfish  ends.  Nor 
do  they  employ  "  retired  citizens"  to  misrepresent  and  slander  other 
Companies  engaged  in  similar  enterprises.  They  are  determined  to 
carry  out  the  task  they  have  undertaken,  without  resort  to  any  of  the 
expedients  which  misdirected  rivalry  too  often  suggests,  and  which 
must  always  fail  of  their  object. 

Notwithstanding  the  exertions  of  the  agents  of  the  Honduras  Co.  in 
favor  of  peace  in  Central  America,  they  have  from  the  first  been  grossly 
abused  by  the  organs  and  officers  of  Guatemala.  But,  unscrupulous  as 
these  proverbially  are,  they  have  never  yet  made  the  charges  against 
the  Company  in  which  your  correspondent  indulges.  Their  opposition 
has  been  made  on  the  direct  ground  that  it  is  an  American  Company, 
and  that  it  will  confirm  and  solidify  American  influence  in  Honduras. 
Their  opposition  has  been  notoriously  incited  by  the  influence  of  all  the 
European  representatives  in  Guatemala,  in  precisely  the  same  way  that 
the  hostility  of  Mexico  was  fanned  into  a  flame,  previous  to  the  late 
war  with  that  country.  And  it  is  a  fact,  susceptible  of  proof,  that  one 
particular  reason  why  Guatemala  rejects  all  overtures  of  peace  from 
Honduras,  and  refuses  the  intervention  of  San  Salvador  and  Nicaragua 
to  that  end,  is  the  hope  of  interrupting  the  construction  of  the  Road  in 
question. 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  Company  will  be  justified,  and  it  may 
consider  itself  called  upon,  to  defend  its  rights  from  unwarrantable  in 
terference,  by  all  means  at  its  command. 

Your  correspondent  is  greatly  exercised  in  consequence  of  an  alleged 
exportation  of  arms  to  Honduras.  That  the  Government  of  Honduras 
has  purchased  arms  in  the  United  States,  which  were  regularly  and 
publically  shipped,  is  no  doubt  true.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  attempt 
was  ever  made  to  disguise  the  fact.  The  transaction  was  a  straight 
forward,  commercial  one,  precisely  like  others  which  take  place  daily. 
The  Honduras  Railroad  Company  had  sufficient  faith  in  the  honesty  of 
Honduras  to  guarantee  the  payment  of  its  purchases,  and  is  prepared  to 
do  so,  to  any  reasonable  amount  which  that  State  may  require.  It  is 
only  to  be  hoped  that  the  arms  and  ammunition  purchased  in  New  York, 
the  produce  of  American  labor,  may  prove  superior  to  those  which 
Guatemala  has  notoriously  purchased  in  Belize,  since  the  present  diffi 
culties  commenced. 

There  is  nothing  in  all  this  to  call  for  the  remonstrance  which  your 


u 

correspondent  asserts  was  made  by  that  "Extraordinary  Envoy"  who 
bears  upon  his  Atlantean  shoulders  the  duties  of  Representative  from  all 
the  undefined  nooks  and  corners  of  creation,  and  whose  inexhaustible 
titles  crowd  even  the  "  ample  verge"  of  the  diplomatic  pasteboard.* 
War  has  never  been  declared  between  Guatemala  and  Honduras,  by 
either  side ;  and  the  "  outrages  upon  all  the  courtesies  of  international 
intercourse,"  which  is  alleged  was  committed  by  the  parties  in  New 
York  furnishing  arms  to  Honduras,  was  no  outrage  at  all,  but  a  per 
fectly  legitimate  transaction,  which  may  be  repeated  indefinitely  with 
out  affording  just  grounds  for  censure  from  any  quarter.  No  doubt 
Guatemala,  having  Belize  close  at  hand,  as  a  sort  of  depot,  whence  she 
may  obtain  her  munitions  of  war,  desires  to  prevent  the  other  States 
from  obtaining  like  supplies  from  other  quarters.  But  I  apprehend  that 
she  will  have  to  adopt  other  means,  to  secure  her  monopoly  of  danger 
ous  elements,  than  a  hypocritical  remonstrance  to  the  American  Secre 
tary  of  State.  The  device  is  alike  shallow  and  ludicrous ;  for  no  one 
can  be  deceived  into  considering  Carre  ra's  Indian  forays  (made  without 
notice  and  without  other  authority  than  his  own  caprice,  in  true  savage 
style)  as  wars,  in  any  sense  recognized  amongst  Christian  nations. 

Your  anonymous  correspondent  undertakes  to  characterize  the  enter 
prise  of  the  Honduras  Railway  Company  as  one  "  that  has  no  intrinsic 
merits  to  recommend  it."  His  competency  to  decide  on  that  point  may 
well  be  doubted,  as  he  cannot  possibly  know  any  of  the  facts  in  the 
case.  His  impartiality  may  be  judged  by  the  spirit  which  he  manifests. 
Having  convicted  him  of  misrepresentation  and  falsehood,  and  shown 
the  malice  which  is  concealed  in  every  line  of  his  communication,  I  leave 
him  to  the  contempt  and  scorn  of  all  men  who  respect  honor  and  regard 
truth. 

In  conclusion,  I  can  only  express  my  surprise  and  regret,  that  the 
"Intelligencer"  has  permitted  itself  to  become  the  medium  for  the  gra 
tification  of  personal  spite,  and  the  dissemination  of  falsehoods  such 
as  crowd  the  communication  of  its  anonymous  correspondent. 
I  am,  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

E.  GEO.  SQUIER. 

NEW-YORK,  March  20,  1854. 

*  Reference  is  here  made  to  Don  Felipe  Molina,  "  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipoten 
tiary  from  Guatemala,  Costa  Rica,  and  San  Salvador."  The  "  retired  citizen"  of  the  Intelligencer  is 
supposed  to  be  a  certain  Mr.  Kerr ,  who  was  a  year  or  two  in  Nicaragua  as  U.  S.  Charg6  d'Aflaires, 

where  he  distinguished  himself  by drawing  his  salary  1     History  has  failed  to  record  his 

other  achievements. 


OayJord  Bros. 

Makers 
Syracuse,  N,  Y. 

1908 


